The throttling of intake air is a known way of controlling the output of an engine, such as an internal combustion engine. Often, internal combustion engines use throttle bodies to throttle the intake air to the desired flow rate. However, the throttling of air may cause a loss in efficiency during partial throttle conditions. Specifically, throttle bodies in some embodiments use butterfly valves to throttle the flow of intake air. While butterfly valves are known for their simplicity and reliability, they provide the throttling function by constricting the air intake path to a smaller area, which creates flow losses.
Prior art solutions have been developed which seek to control the flow of intake air while recovering some of the energy lost in the throttling process. For example, throttled intake air may be directed to a turbine, which drives a generator to produce electrical energy when the intake air is being restricted by the throttle. Generating electrical energy also produces heat as a byproduct, however, since the throttle loss recovery system is typically under the hood of a vehicle, the heat must be managed to avoid exceeding maximum operating temperatures of the various devices and components under the hood.